


Let the Love Light Guide you Home

by silent_rooms



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Jesse is an ARC, M/M, Meet-Cute, Sort Of, Star Wars doesn't really have any holidays, Surprise Party, and don't effect much of anything that's going on, background Hardcase/Tup/Dogma, background Jesse/Kix, but all the fixes happen in the background, holiday party, so I borrowed some from our reality, this is actually a fix-it fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:34:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28214031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silent_rooms/pseuds/silent_rooms
Summary: The holidays are here, and Fives is determined to have a celebration for them. Even if he doesn't understand what the best way to celebrate might be. But no matter what, he's determined to finally get his captain's attention all to himself.Rex might have a few wires crossed about the whole thing.
Relationships: CT-27-5555 | ARC-5555 | Fives & CT-5597 | Jesse, CT-27-5555 | ARC-5555 | Fives/CT-7567 | Rex, Hardcase (Star Wars) & CT-5385 | Tup & Dogma (Star Wars)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 36
Collections: Soft Wars Fic Exchange





	Let the Love Light Guide you Home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [umami](https://archiveofourown.org/users/umami/gifts).



> Title from Cage the Elephant's song Skin and Bones

Rex rubbed at his eyes, squinting down at the datawork innocently sitting on the desk in front of him. If he'd known volunteering for extra duty would land him with _this_... he probably would have still volunteered. They'd been stranded on Coruscant for nearly a month, no word when they might ship out next, just loaned out to the Guard 'temporarily'. He hadn't seen his General in nearly as long, but any inquiries to the Temple merely got him a polite 'Jedi business' brush-off that was old the second time he'd asked. They were unfailingly polite, _of course_ , so all Rex could do was nod and walk away. And fall right back into the holding pattern he and his men had been in for weeks.

It kept them out of trouble, he would admit that much, if only to himself. The Guard were more overworked and underappreciated than he would have ever imagined, and while it was no battlefield it was its own special sort of hell.

At least on a battlefield he could usually kill whatever was annoying him.

That aside, Rex was going a little stir-crazy. The patrols kept his body busy and wore him out to some degree, but it left his mind free to spin wild theories about what was happening on this damn planet. Aside from his General being sequestered in the Temple with barely a word about his state, the Senate was doing some weird nonsense. It had been shuttered for nearly as long as they'd been there, all functions put on hold and not a word breathed about what was going on behind the closed doors. Rumors were rampant, of course--claims that the Chancellor had been deposed, that he'd _died_ , that someone had proposed a ludicrous law and they weren't allowing anyone to leave until things had been resolved to _everyone's_ satisfaction.

(In his heart of hearts, Rex hoped it was that last one, hoped that someone had finally proposed some kind of law that would result in the freedom of him and his brothers. He tried not to dwell on it; it was nice to have dreams, but above all else, Rex fancied himself a bit of a realist. There was never a chance they'd be allowed out of the army, not as long as the war was still on.)

The Senate Guard were certainly tense about all of it. He was happy not to have anything to do with them, but the scuttlebutt he heard around the barracks claimed that they were definitely worked up about _something_. Most of the brothers he'd overheard just seemed relieved that they were more than willing to do their own jobs, for once. That plus the loan of the 501st was actually letting the Guard get some apparently long-overdue and well-deserved rest. It made Rex a feel a little guilty about certain uncharitable thoughts he'd had about his Coruscant Guard brethren in the past, which was what prompted him to volunteer, and why he was here now, scowling down at the datawork that was currently refusing to finish itself.

He sighed. Kriff this, he was taking a break.

Pushing back his chair, he stood and grabbed his bucket out of habit. He didn't need it here, but he still clipped it to his belt before striding to the breakroom; at least he could stretch his legs, grab some caf. There weren't many other vod around at the moment, but that was fine too. There was only one he'd like to spend time with at the moment anyway--

Rex stopped that thought before it got away from him. There wasn't much point pursuing that, considering Fives seemed to be oblivious to Rex's interest. The subtle hints he'd been dropping didn't seem to be working, so Rex had just about resigned himself to watching the ARC from afar and trying to smother his budding crush with a metaphorical pillow. It hadn't been going that well so far; instead he'd just gained a new appreciation for how well Fives filled out his armor.

If Cody ever found out about Rex's stupid crush he'd probably laugh himself sick. Rex had been very careful about how much he drank around Cody whenever they'd managed to get shore leave together, lately. He definitely didn't need to give his ori'vod any ammo in that respect. Cody already had too much blackmail material on him.

Distracted by his own thoughts, Rex moved through the doors and almost ran over the subject of his musings; Fives let out a strangled noise, jumping to hide whatever he'd been looking at. Rex raised an eyebrow at the ARC, keeping his expression totally professional, despite Fives' rather... dressed-down state. At least he could still do that much, even if he hadn't even known Fives owned civilian clothing. "Anything to report, trooper?"

"No, sir!" Fives looked guilty.

Rex eyed him a moment longer, then decided his expression was probably due to a prank he was planning with one of the others. He let out a small sigh and didn't bother hiding his eye-roll. "Don't let Hardcase blow up anything important, I have enough datawork as it is. And get Jesse back in time for curfew. I won't save you from Kix's wrath."

Fives gave him a slightly sloppy salute, hiding the datapad badly behind his back. "Sir, yessir. I'll just be... got to keep an eye on them, you know..."

Rex bit back another sigh. "Dismissed, trooper. Stay out of trouble." It was an order he was certain would be disobeyed, but he still had to at least try giving it. Maybe it would work one of these days... but judging by how quickly Fives scooted out of the room, it wouldn't be this day. The room was otherwise completely empty, so Rex indulged himself in staring after Fives for a moment and allowing his expression to relax into something softer. He had no idea what he looked like right now, and was desperately grateful no one was around to tell him; he already knew he had it bad. There was absolutely no need for anyone to rub it in.

It just wasn't fair, or great for Rex's self-control, that Fives looked even better in civvies than he did his armor.

Moving to the caf machine, he poured himself a cup and took a long, steadying sip. Right, enough of this stupid pining. It wouldn't get him anywhere, and he still had datawork to complete.

=====

Fives darted away from the room, heart pounding. He hadn't expected Rex to suddenly be there; going by his usual pattern, he wouldn't have gotten up for caf for another half an hour. Fives worried at his lower lip a bit as he hustled along; was the Captain not sleeping well? There wasn't much Fives could do about that (not yet, anyway), but he couldn't help worrying. Rex was probably doing too much, _like usual_ , and not taking care of himself. The Captain was always putting his men first, and Fives admired that in him. But he wished the man would take care of himself with as much consideration.

Fives hurried down the hall, swinging through a little-used room and then out into the open air. Well, as open as Coruscant ever got, anyway. Jesse and Hardcase were indeed waiting for him, as well as Tup, and they'd even persuaded Dogma to join them. Their rules-conscious vod was the only one wearing dress greys while the rest were also wearing civvies, and he was currently scowling at the rest of them as if they were trying to trick him into doing something bad. "Come on, Dogma," Tup was wheedling as Fives moved closer to the cluster. "It's just for a day, we're going to help Fives out and then go to dinner after. You don't even have to help us if you don't want to, just come with us."

Dogma flicked his eyes in Fives' direction before glowering back at Tup. "Fine, I'll come. But I reserve the right to go to the Captain if you four do anything that I don't like!"

Fives refrained from flinching at that, barely. He wasn't ready for Rex to hear about what he was planning, not yet. "I promise, Dogma. This isn't against the rules, or anything that will cause a problem. We're just going to a library and researching some old traditions, okay? You can look up anything you like when we get there, Tup's right, you don't have to do anything you don't want to."

Tup smiled at Dogma, who huffed at him, but accepted the hand Tup slipped into his. Hardcase came up behind both of them with a laugh, slinging his arms around their shoulders and loudly started talking about something or other as he pushed them forward. It was a testament to how much Dogma liked Tup that Hardcase was being permitted to do this, really.

Shaking his head, Fives fell into step beside Jesse. The other ARC grinned over at Fives, nudging him with an elbow. "So, did you get it?"

Fives glared at him. "I don't know what you mean."

Jesse laughed. "Don't play dumb, you went in there to ask Commander Fox what kind of things the Captain likes." At the stricken look Fives gave him, Jesse gave him another nudge. "Fives... you know that everyone knows you're sweet on the Captain, right? You're not exactly subtle about it."

Fives glared down at the datapad. "Too subtle for Rex, I guess."

"Aw come on, you know he takes that rank stuff seriously. I know that as ARCs we're not exactly part of the normal chain of command, but we still answer to him. He probably feels weird about 'taking advantage' of you, or something like that," Jesse mused. It sounded like a very reasonable thing to consider, when he put it like that, but Fives still scowled at the logic.

"I've invited him out to 79's three times since we got here, he always brushes me off because he's 'too busy'. I thought maybe if I started small, with something most vod'e might do together..." he trailed off, a bit helplessly.

Jesse slung a companionable arm over his shoulders. "If he hasn't noticed your pining yet, there's not much hope for him. Though... didn't he ask you to spar with him a few months ago?"

"Yeah? He spars with everyone, though. He was trying to make sure I wasn't getting rusty." Fives tried to sound dismissive rather than hopeful. It probably didn't work that well, going by Jesse's expression, but then again the spar had been ridiculously hot. It definitely featured in a few of Fives' more... _involved_ dreams since then, though in those the ending was usually very different.

"And the time he invited you into his room for caf?"

Fives could feel his cheeks and the tips of his ears getting hot. "It was a con job, he just wanted me to help him do his datawork. He seemed pretty tired anyway." Fives refused to read into Rex's yawns or the yearning glances he'd caught Rex giving his bed. His own interest was making him assume things about Rex's intent, that was all.

Jesse sighed, as if Fives had given him the dumbest answer he'd ever heard. He muttered something into the sigh, and unless Fives was very much mistaken, it sounded a lot like, "Force, there's two of them."

...yeah, he wasn't going to read into that, either.

"Let's just get this over with, okay? We don't have much time to pull this off, and it's got to be perfect," Fives shook off Jesse's arm gently and moved ahead of him.

"Perfect so you can ask the Captain to be your boyf-- _oof_." Jesse might be an ARC now, but Fives had more than enough experience on him to dip back and dig an unexpected elbow into Jesse's ribs. The civvies he was wearing did nothing to protect him, even though Fives was careful to pull the blow. He had plans for later that didn't involve catching a lecture from Kix. "Alright, point taken, I'll just let you die a slow, pining death, you don't have to tell me again."

Fives rolled his eyes at Jesse, exasperated. "Let's just get there before Dogma has to report Hardcase for some minor infraction, I'd rather not waste our free time with a lecture."

====

The library, located in a poorer area of Coruscant and one of the few ones clones could patronize unharassed, was hushed and actually pretty soothing. Dogma, naturally, had found the thickest law book he could and had plunked it down pointedly at his end of their table and was now determinedly going through it. It looked incredibly boring to Fives, but at least it was keeping his kih'vod happy. Tup had sat next to his batchmate with a much slimmer volume, plucked from the pile Hardcase had gathered up while they were waiting for Fives and Jesse. He had happily explained in hushed tones that the librarian had been very helpful with finding holiday traditions from every planet and race there apparently was in existence.

Fives eyed the pile with a bit more trepidation. That... was a lot of books. This might be more difficult than he'd first thought. Jesse looked a little overwhelmed himself, but Hardcase was already gleefully leafing through one, so Jesse gamely grabbed one of his own and sat down to read.

Taking a breath, Fives also sat down at the table and selected a book at random. Placing the datapad to one side, he started carefully flipping through the book.

====

This was getting a little ridiculous, Rex decided. He was finally done for the day and he couldn't find a single one of his men that wasn't on duty. He hadn't seen Fives for hours, and not a single vod he asked had apparently seen him either. Jesse, Hardcase, Tup, and Dogma were also missing, but Rex was going to cling to the faint hope that Dogma would keep the others in some sort of line. At the very least, he could probably count on him to report anything before it got _too_ out of hand.

It was just a shame. Fives had been asking him to go out to 79's and Rex had always been forced to say 'no'. Either he'd been tapped to fill a shift last-minute or he had an early shift the next day and wanted to turn in early, and the timing had always been off. But unwinding with his men was something Rex sorely missed, and now that things had settled a bit he was eager to do it again. Too bad none of them seemed to be around right now, Rex didn't have many free evenings where his morning was also more or less free. Free enough to let him stay out late and have a drink or two, at least.

With a sigh he resigned himself to another night reading romance holos in his borrowed bunk. At least that was one hobby he'd been able to indulge in on this trip, even if he didn't have a private room to do it in; they were packed pretty tightly into the barracks, and honestly he didn't mind. Being surrounded by his men was nice, it meant that if he had a bad night he wouldn't have to do a restless patrol that might wake them up. He could just lay there in the darkness, listening and focusing on his breathing, which usually led to him slipping back to a better sleep after. The nightmares were getting a little rough, probably all the enforced idleness getting to him; if they got much worse he might actually have to talk to Kix about them. Rex hated to burden the medic with anything frivolous like this, but he knew that he couldn't function if he couldn't sleep. Just one more annoyance this damn planet was inflicting on him, really.

Rex blew out a careful breath, shaking his worries away as best he could. His men were just busy and they'd found things to do on their own time. This was fine. It was fine. Rex would get some shut-eye, get up early the next day, hit the training room before his shift, get his head on straight. See if he could catch Fives before the ARC started his own shift, and try once more to ask him to spend some alone time with Rex. It didn't have to mean anything or go anywhere, but Rex wanted to be sure Fives knew Rex valued him, as a good soldier if nothing else. And if that's all Rex could have, he could be content with that.

====

The library had quickly gone from soothing to _boring_. Fives had discovered why Hardcase was so gleeful about this almost immediately; a lot of these celebrations included either explosions of colored lights (with accompanying satisfying booms, of course) or fire of some kind. Neither of those things would suit anything Fives wanted to do, however. It had to be much more low-key with no chance of anything getting out of hand except maybe the drinking. He wanted this to be an event where Rex could really relax and enjoy himself without having to be the Captain for any reason.

"Look," Jesse tapped Fives on the shoulder, gesturing to his book. "This one lasts for eight days, and there are supposed to be presents every day as well as special dinners every night--"

Fives shook his head. "We definitely don't have the time for a celebration that lasts a week." That was another thing many of these celebrations had in common, though, both the presents and the feast. He had been spending half his time here daydreaming about what kind of gift he could get Rex, but nothing had come to mind yet. "I've already talked to Dex about maybe arranging for some food, and he actually offered an empty storehouse for us to use-- _provided_ we all promise to behave and not let things get out of hand."

Jesse laughed. "I guess I'll have to persuade Kix to come play babysitter with me, since I know you'll be busy."

Fives ignored the furious flush that was trying to creep over his face as well as Jesse's laughter as he buried his face in yet another book.

"Hey!" Hardcase chirped excitedly. "What about this one? We need a tree, and then we cover it in candles! It looks so pretty in the pictures!"

Fives glanced over, still fighting the blush. "For one, where would we find a live tree on this planet? And I've told you, no fire. Nothing that could be a problem if someone tripped over it."

Ignoring Hardcase's whining, Fives rubbed a hand over his mouth and made a few notes on his 'pad. A lot of these celebrations also used colored lights, so maybe they could find a way to have those without fire? But something that fancy would probably be expensive... "We probably should have some kind of... centerpiece. Since there are no trees, maybe we could find something that would stand in place of one?"

There was a moment of contemplative silence.

Jesse made a thoughtful noise, tapping his fingers against the flimsi pages of his book. "If we're not allowed to use candles or explosions, what about plain colored lights?" he asked, speaking Fives' thoughts aloud. "We could hang them on the walls, turn the other lights down. It would be atmospheric."

Fives grinned at him, about to tease him over who had taught him such a big word when Hardcase let out a loud "OH!"

Distracted, Fives turned to look at him in time to catch Hardcase flinching like someone had just kicked him under the table. Considering the way Dogma was now hissing--this is a _library_ , don't you _know that_ , we have to keep our _voices down_ , don't you have an _inside voice_ \--it was probably him.

Ignoring their rules-conscious brother, Hardcase continued in a much lower voice that was still louder than Dogma's vicious whispering. "I've got a fantastic idea. That center-thingy, the lights, maybe some decorations, I know exactly where I can find all that. Just tell me when the party is and I'll arrange everything!"

"I... four days from now?" Fives didn't mean to sound uncertain, but he hadn't exactly been expecting Hardcase to be the answer to his dilemma.

"Great!" Hardcase leapt to his feet, shoving the bound flimsi book away from him. "I'll go talk to them right now, you said Dex is arranging the space, right? Sweet, I'll talk to him too, don't worry, it'll all be set up and ready to go!" He was moving away from the table even as he spoke, clearly already planning to leave no matter what Fives had to say.

"...okay, fine, good." Fives gestured at Tup. "Keep an eye on him, would you? Sorry, I hate to ask you to do that in your free time, but--"

Tup nodded, already closing his own book. "I can do that, it's not a problem. I don't mind." Getting to his feet quickly, the long-haired clone hurried after Hardcase with a hissed, "Come on, Dogma!" Dogma made an annoyed sound but was already getting to his own feet. He took his hefty book with him, probably intending to give it to a librarian on his way out. Before Fives could say anything else all three of them were gone, and it was just him and Jesse and a pile of books.

Fives sighed, making a few more notes in his datapad and trying not to regret all of his life choices. "Right, I guess that's. That's figured out. Good."

"What else do we need? Alcohol, right?" Jesse grinned, definitely looking way too amused at Fives' bemused expression. "Also wait a minute, how are the schedules looking? I'm pretty sure I have a shift during when this party is supposed to be."

Fives shook his head. "I arranged everything with Fox already. Hardcase, Tup, and Dogma were already free that night, and so was the Captain. You and I _were_ working, but I'm pulling doubles every day and a triple tomorrow to make sure you and I are completely free that whole day and the next morning."

Jesse frowned. "I could have pulled a double if you'd told me about this, you know. You didn't have to do it yourself."

"I need you to keep an eye on the party and make sure that everything goes smoothly, okay? And you have to get Rex there in time. Consider this repayment for doing all that." Fives shrugged. "Or maybe consider it your holiday gift, I didn't have time to get anything for you."

"Sure, sure. Okay. In that case... I know someone who might be able to arrange some booze. Good stuff too, I promise." Jesse's grin said nothing good, and Fives didn't trust it. "I just need to talk to someone and arrange it, so I'd better do that now if the party's happening so soon. See you, vod."

"Yeah, see you." Fives waved halfheartedly as Jesse stood, sighing to himself as he made a few additional notes in his 'pad. Jesse providing mystery alcohol, Hardcase taking care of the mystery decorations, and he still needed to get a gift for Rex.

Everything seemed to be coming together even better than Fives had thought, so why did he have a bad feeling about this?

====

The next day came too early for Rex's taste, but that's how it usually seemed to go. Still, he'd managed to get at least a decent amount of sleep, and after a quick workout and an even faster sonic, he was ready to face the day--or at the very least, breakfast. Grabbing a tray of the tasteless, over-processed mush that was all the Guard seemed to eat, he glanced around to get a feel for how the morning might go. Tup, Hardcase, and Dogma were sitting against one of the walls, which was promising even if both Tup and Hardcase looked like they might be somewhat hungover. Jesse sat not too much further away, sitting with Kix to Rex's complete lack of shock. Rex noted the rest of the men that should have been there, and came up one short--Fives definitely had a shift this morning, and he should have been there eating before it started.

With a frown, he moved over to the unofficial 'officer's table' and sat down next to Stone. "Anything I need to know?"

Stone looked up with a faint frown. "No? Quiet night, from what I hear. Some of your boys coming in five minutes past curfew was the only fuss, but since they were quiet about it we let it slide."

Rex nodded his thanks, eating the stuff on his tray as Stone talked. "I appreciate that, thanks. Fives didn't mouth off, then?" He knew what the ARC was like after a few drinks, and if there was any kind of trouble at all Fives could be trusted to be square in the center of it.

Stone shook his head. "Nah, Fives wasn't with them, he's been--ff!"

Thire leaned around Stone to casually remark, "Fives requested some changes to his schedule, it's all arranged. He's going to be busy for a few days but it's not anything you need to worry about." As if he hadn't just elbowed Stone hard enough that the other commander was still trying to catch his breath.

Rex blinked, startled. "I... see. Thank you." He really wasn't sure what to make of that. It was a little difficult not to jump to the worst conclusions, especially with the way Thire seemed to have stopped Stone from saying anything more. Did Fives have some kind of problem with Rex? He had been in the break room with a datapad just yesterday, on his free time. He hadn't expected Rex to be there. Presumably, he'd been talking to someone who had left a little while before Rex came in.

In light of that, Rex chose not to demand any more details about what, exactly, Fives was busy _with_. Maybe he could catch the ARC on his own? But if Fives was avoiding him, there was no hope of that. And if Fives had some kind of issue, then the Guard would have no doubt arranged his schedule so he wouldn't have any chance of running into Rex during the course of his duties. There was certainly enough to do for that.

With a sigh, Rex finished his breakfast. His appetite was utterly gone, which made this the first time he'd ever been grateful for tasteless food; it didn't make it any more of a trial than it already was to eat what he had left. With a final nod to the two commanders, Rex stood and got on with his day. There was absolutely nothing he could do to help with the Fives situation until someone brought the issue to his attention. He would just have to act with utter professionalism and do everything as perfectly as he could until that happened, so no one else had any reason to be upset with him. It made something in his chest ache with how that way of thinking reminded him of his days on Kamino, though at least now there was no fear of decommissioning. Just a little voice in the back of his head that whispered that Fives was definitely requesting a transfer to a different unit, which he wasn't letting himself think about.

====

Fives groaned into his pillow as he woke up slowly, relishing the fact that he was horizontal. The last few days had been a living nightmare, and his whole body ached in a dull, annoying way. Thank all the powers in the universe _that_ was done with, and unless Fives was very dumb he would never have to do it again. What in the Force had possessed him to do that in the first place...?

His brain took a few more moments to properly wake up, and remind him of why exactly he had put himself through hell. The party. "Kriff," he mumbled, fumbling around to find a crono so he could blearily squint at it. "Kriff," he yelped again, much louder this time as he forced his reluctant body out of the nice, warm blanket cocoon he'd been wrapped in. "I'm _late_ , oh no..."

Flinging himself into the closest free 'fresher, he managed to get through a sonic in record time, and he was still shoving on his shirt as he raced for the door. Luckily no one tried to stop him, though a few vod'e laughed at his expense. Fives ignored them in favor of requisitioning one of the Guard's speeders, trying not to look too impatient as the vod in charge of them apparently went through the datawork as slowly as he possibly could. Finally though he was cleared to take one, reminded to follow the traffic laws (he managed not to roll his eyes too hard at that), and he was on his way.

Once he was moving, he took the time to call Jesse. "Hey, vod. Sorry I'm late--"

Jesse cut him off. _"It's fine, we've got things handled here. I dropped by your bunk earlier; you were completely out. Since you clearly needed the sleep, and no one could rouse you anyway, I just went ahead with things assuming you'd get your shebs up eventually."_ Fives relaxed a little. Despite the words, Jesse sounded deeply amused and like he didn't mind the extra work Fives had accidentally saddled him with.

"Thanks again, Jesse." Fives took a second to check his directions, taking a turn before he continued. "How's the other thing going, with Rex?"

There was a slight pause before Jesse continued. _"Yeah, I've still got to talk to him. I'm not sure what's going on, I overheard some of the Commanders talking about how he was acting a little weird. But hopefully having a chance to relax and hang out with us will clear up whatever's going on in that blonde head of his."_

Fives snorted. "Don't let him catch you talking about his hair that way. I'll be there in a few minutes, Fives out." He cut the connection without giving Jesse a chance to say anything else, or tease Fives further. He couldn't worry about what Jesse had said, he would save that for when he could see the Captain with his own eyes.

====

Rex sighed, rubbing the crick in his neck carefully. Sitting in the mess hall was a nice start to his day off, but honestly he had nowhere to go. And since he wasn't about to force any of the men to choose between himself and Fives, until this situation was resolved he had no one he could spend the time off with. It was enough to make him consider going to Stone or Thire to ask if they needed anyone to fill in guard duty anywhere. That was boring and not something he would normally volunteer for, but it would be something to do.

Jesse entered the mess, looked around briefly, and then made a bee-line directly to Rex. Rex arched his eyebrows at the tattooed vod, sitting up a little straighter and pushing his caf slightly to one side as Jesse came to a halt and saluted him. "What's the trouble, Jesse?"

"No trouble, sir," Jesse claimed, coming to parade rest out of his salute. "I would like you to come with me, though. If it's not an imposition, sir."

Rex's eyebrows inched a little higher. "Come with you... where? If you don't mind my asking."

Jesse looked both slightly apprehensive and way too amused. He was bad at hiding both things, if he was even trying at all. "It's kind of a surprise, sir. A good one, I promise."

With a heavy sigh, Rex slugged back the caf, grimacing as the slightly too-warm liquid burned its way down his throat. "Fine, I'll bite. Take me to your mystery surprise, trooper."

It wasn't like he had anything better to do, and he at least trusted Jesse not to be evil with whatever prank he and Hardcase had planned this time. And if Rex took a moment, as he got to his feet and followed Jesse out the doors, to quietly mourn the fact that Fives most likely wasn't in on the prank this time... well. No one would ever know about it, that was for sure.

====

Fives gaped at the interior of the warehouse. The last time he'd peeked in here, when Dex had showed him the space, it had been bare and empty. He hadn't had time to get a good look; it might have been a little dusty, too. But now... Fives sighed, shoulders slumping as he brought a hand up to rub at the bridge of his nose.

He never should have trusted Hardcase. He should have known that.

The walls were adorned with what had to be the neon lights from a bar or... other establishment, and Fives had to at least be grateful that they weren't actually advertising alcohol or anything else. But what really made this whole thing a headache was the centerpiece to the whole room. Proudly placed in a clear area, with a few spotlights turned on it to really highlight its presence, was a Force-blessed _stripper pole_. Fives sighed again, fighting the urge to turn it into a groan, and scrubbed viciously at his face.

Well, there was nothing he could do about it now, so he went over to the 'bar' someone had created out of some empty crates to, ah, _inspect_ the label-less alcohol Jesse had gotten from he-didn't-actually-want-to-know.

While Fives occupied himself quality-checking the first bottle he could get his hands on, the room slowly started filling up. Hardcase wandered over to claim a bottle of the booze for himself, and proceeded to completely ignore (or just not notice) Fives glaring at him. Tup and Dogma came in soon after, quickly followed by another dozen or so vod'e Fives recognized either from the 501st or the Guard, and everyone quickly got cozy with the alcohol and food.

Eventually, Fives admitted to himself that it could have been much worse, and decided to forgive Hardcase (who was halfway across the room, excitedly chattering away at Tup and whoever else wanted to listen in on whatever he was saying). The food was pretty damn good, especially after weeks of eating Guard fare, and the booze was just strong enough that Fives was already feeling warm and comfortable and that probably had a lot to do with why he wasn't mad at Hardcase anymore.

Oh well.

There was a clatter near the entryway, and everyone turned to look. Jesse waved them off, looking faintly irritated as he kicked something out of the way and stepped further into the room, followed by Rex. The mood in the room immediately altered, everyone freezing in place. The vod closest to Fives looked like he was trying to decide what would get him in less trouble, trying to hide the bottle he was clutching in his hand or just dropping it in favor of coming to attention in the presence of a superior officer.

Rex was quick to speak up. "As you were, I'm here for the party too. Apparently," he added a little more softly, giving a grinning Jesse a sharp look. "This is your surprise, huh? You could have said--" His gaze sliding over the rest of the room, and caught on Fives. Fives had to swallow at that sharp, assessing look, not sure what to make of it as Rex turned away to go look at the buffet spread. Jesse went with him, talking softly. Hopefully he was convincing the captain to stay.

Fives felt frozen in place, trying to tell himself that he was reading into that look. It had been so... distant, and unless he was very much mistaken, Rex had looked _hurt_. He tried to think back over the past few days, but couldn't think of anything he'd done since they'd bumped into each other in the breakroom. He'd been too _busy_ to do anything!

At least everyone was relaxing in the face of Rex loading up a plate of his own, people slowly drifting back to their conversations with only a slight dip in the noise-level to indicate anything had even happened. Fives went back to picking at his plate, his stomach humming nervously for no good reason he could pinpoint, and keeping tabs on Rex out of the corner of his eye as the captain slowly made his way around the room. He seemed to be talking to every vod'e there, apparently determined to put them all at their ease. It definitely wasn't that he was doing it to avoid Fives for as long as possible, that was ridiculous and Fives did his best to squash that line of thinking down to the back of his mind.

Eventually Rex settled at one of the makeshift tables with his food, looking like he might be a little uncertain about what he was doing here, or at least that's how Fives saw it. Well. If his captain wasn't going to come to him... Fives picked up his plate, and took a detour to grab two more bottles of alcohol on his way over to Rex. He took a moment to clear his throat, though Rex had to have clocked him coming over here. "Mind if I sit, sir?"

Rex gave him a look Fives didn't know how to interpret, but it didn't seem very positive. "Knock off the sir, unless there's a reason I need to be a captain right now."

Fives breathed out, sitting and sliding one of the bottles over to Rex. "Thanks for coming, Rex. I'm really glad you're here."

He was gratified to see Rex looking easier at that, his shoulders losing some of the tension that he'd been carrying since he arrived. The captain took a swig from the bottle, looking surprised as the taste hit him. "The heck am I drinking?"

Shaking his head, Fives took a drink of his own. "Jesse provided it, I didn't question where he got it from. Ask him if you really want to know." He had to bite back a laugh as Rex visibly shuddered at the very idea.

There was a comfortable moment as they both relaxed in each other's presence, and let the chatter from the others wash over them. Rex cleared his throat eventually, turning the bottle in his hands a little and determinedly not looking at Fives. "So... the past couple of days, I... Fives, is something wrong?"

Fives blinked, uncertain what Rex was talking about. "Excuse me? Why would anything be wrong? I just picked up some extra shifts so I could have today and tomorrow off, for this. Which was _awful_ , by the way, I am never doing that again."

Rex looked relieved, and if the slight flush stealing over his face was any indication, a bit embarrassed. "Oh. I just thought... nevermind, it's stupid."

Shaking his head, Fives shifted so he could look at Rex head-on. "Please, I won't laugh or tease you. I'm sure it's not as stupid as you think."

"...I thought you didn't want to speak to me. Maybe my... maybe I was making you uncomfortable." The words are a barely-audible mumble as Rex's blush got worse.

Fives found himself frantically shaking his head and reaching out to rest a hand on Rex's shoulder. " _Never_ , si-Rex. I couldn't... I _like_ you, I don't find anything you do uncomfortable!" His voice maybe got a little loud in the middle there, but he hoped no one else was cluing in to what they're talking about here.

At least his words had the desired effect, and Rex looked up, a tiny smile starting to tug at the corner of his mouth. "You like me?"

Now it was Fives' turn to blush, his face heating up as he looked away and rubbed a hand over his mouth. "...well, yeah. It's okay if you don't, I'm just... I just wanted you to know. That I liked you." It was fine if Rex said he didn't, they could still work together, Fives was a _professional_ dammit, it didn't matter--

"I like you, too." The words were quiet and said in a bit of a rush, but the tone was honest, and when Fives dared to glance back at Rex's face, he looked like Fives had just given him the best gift ever. Which was good because Fives hadn't actually managed to find anything to give Rex for the holiday. That much hope and happiness looked good on Rex's face, and Fives was suddenly seized with the desire to make sure he always looked that way. He deserved to be happy for the rest of his life, and Fives was prepared to do just about anything to make it happen.

====

There was a lot more quiet discussion between the two of them, after that. Everyone else left them alone, either seeing they were busy or warned off by Jesse, Rex never actually found out. But, he reflected much later, sitting with his arms around Fives, the two of them wrapped up in a blanket and cuddling with their backs up against a wall, it didn't really matter. This mattered, here, right now, this warmth suffusing his body that couldn't just be explained away by the alcohol and the shared body heat.

There weren't a lot of men left; most of them had left a few hours ago. There were a few Guard sprawled out in a drunken vod'e pile in one of the corners, and Hardcase, Tup, and Dogma were playing a lazy game of sabacc at a nearby table with one of the Guard medics. Jesse and Kix were slow-dancing to some of the holiday music that was being piped in on a tiny radio, and all in all, it was just... nice. Rex hadn't been this relaxed in... pretty much as long as he could remember, and Fives' head being pillowed on his shoulder was just the icing on the cake. He almost couldn't believe all of this was real.

Fives sighed, stirring from the doze he'd been in. His pretty brown eyes opened, and he gave Rex a slightly dopey smile. "Hey, you're still here."

Rex snorted. "Where would I go? I'm warm and comfortable, and you're here." Fives made a little 'oh' sound, and Rex nudged him gently. "Alright?"

"Y-yeah, this is just... I'm still getting used to it, I think." Fives shifted so he could snuggle that tiny bit closer to Rex, and Rex tightened his hold ever so slightly. "I'm happy, though. This is... everything I've wanted, for a while now."

Rex hummed, leaning over a tiny bit more so he could give Fives a gentle keldabe kiss. There were going to be a lot of problems, of course. Thankfully because of their respective ranks and Fives' status as an ARC they wouldn't have any trouble with fraternization, but Fives also couldn't stay with the 501st full-time. At least for now they're stuck on Coruscant, but when whatever was going on got cleared up, the war was still happening. They'd have to get back to it sooner or later.

Still, just for now... this was fine. They'd take it as it came, and roll with the punches. They're all good at that.

So just for now, Rex would let himself have this. And he didn't intend to let it go that easily.

"Happy holidays, Fives."

"Happy holidays, Rex."

_~fin.~_


End file.
